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Non-Player Characters(NPCs)
Characters within the game that are not controlled by players. These kinds of game characters are often called "mobs", "monsters", "baddies", etc. NPCs in EverQuest Next and EverQuest Next Landmark are notably more "intelligent" than in previous games in the EverQuest franchise Field of View In previous games in the EverQuest franchise, NPCs had an "aggro radius". Upon a player entering this invisible threshold, an aggressive NPC would add that player to its hate list, and immediately seek to attack that player. Due to poor NPC AI and NPC pathing issues, this "aggro radius" has been necessarily small. As they are more intelligent, NPCs in the EQNext games make their own decisions based on a variety of input. Their action upon seeing a player may not always be to immediately attack. They may run away, call for help, or simply wait for the player to perform some other action. In order to facilitate this decision making, as well as give NPCs a much more "intelligent feel", the aggro radius concept of the NPCs should be replaced with visibility and NPC awareness. Put simply, the NPC is aware of everything it can see in 1st person view. Each NPC has a clear cone of view which is around 70°, with an overall peripheral vision that extends its range to 170° in a frontal line of sight. NPCs can only sense movement within their peripheral vision, but can clearly identify objects within their direct field of view. If the NPC detects movement within its peripheral vision, and it is looking for a player, it will look in the direction which it sensed movement, and try to find the object it saw moving. Awareness Range NPCs, like players, make decisions based on the range of the enemy. The maximum range of view of a player in Landmark is currently 300 meters. At this distance, the other player is merely a dot on the horizon. This is too long of a distance to give NPCs awareness of the enemy, as most players are not able to make decisions on tactics at this range. At 100 meters, the other player is fully visible. An NPC, upon clearly seeing a target within this range can start deciding what to do about the threat, but will consider the threat as a low priority. At 70 meters, the target becomes a much more viable threat, and the urgency of action is increased for the NPC. At 30 meters, the target can be hit (or attack) with ranged weapons. The urgency of the threat is ramped up for the NPC. At 5 meters, the target is in range of melee weapons, and is considered an extremely high priority threat. In all cases, the NPC will make decisions based on the tactics it has chosen to employ, as well as making decisions based on its likes and dislikes. The range of the NPC's target simply defines the awareness of the target, and the urgency of a tactical decision. Positioning, Shadows, and Concealment NPCs and players are able to utilize shadows, concealment and various stances to make themselves harder to see. A player or NPC which is standing, in full light, within awareness range, and not hiding behind any solid objects is considered 100% visible. Positions: *Standing will not reduce the player or NPCs visibility to an NPC. *Crouching will reduce the player or NPC visibility to an NPC by 25%, as well as reduce their movement speed. *Crawling will reduce the player or NPCs visibility to an NPC by 50%, as well as greatly reduce their movement speed. Shadows: *If the entire player or NPC is not in a shadowed region, their visibility by an NPC is not modified *If the player or NPC is in the shadows (from the perspective of the NPC), this reduces their visibility by the percentage of their model which is in the shadow, by up to 25% Concealment: *If the entire player or NPC is plainly visible, their visibility by an NPC is not modified *If the player or NPC is hidden behind a solid object (from the perspective of the NPC), this reduces their visiblity by the percentage of their model which is not visible, by up to 100% Thus, a player which is crouching and in the shadows is 4 times harder for an NPC to see than a player who is standing in full light. An NPC or player who is fully hidden behind a tree or rock will not be visible to an NPC passing by. Hunter-Seeker Intelligent NPCs retain a memory of seeing an enemy, and may actively search for an enemy which they had lost sight of. Social NPCs can also communicate with allies, and share information about the lost enemy's last position, orientation, speed and direction of travel. This information helps them predict enemy movement, and allows the NPCs to work as a team to canvas the area. If one of the NPCs finds the enemy they were searching for, they can alert any allies who are in range of a shout. This higher intelligence is designed to mimic Player-vs-Player interaction, and encourage players engaging in PvE combat to be smarter and more tactical than in previous EverQuest games.